The Fiji National University (FNU), attained another milestone as the Master of Health Services Management (MHSM) programme has been awarded its accreditation certificate from the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM).

The quota-based programme that is offered at the School of Public Health and Primary Care (SPHPC), of the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences’ (CMNHS), aims to train health professionals to critically analyse the range of health management and health leadership issues in the health sector and health facilities, that consequently affect health services delivery to communities and individuals.

The current MHSM programme was re-designed in 2018 to contribute to addressing these health management and leadership issues and thereby improve population health outcomes and quality of life.

Students of the programme will learn and apply modern concepts and competencies of health management and leadership in accordance with international recommendations for health managers and leaders, for better health service delivery. These will be in the areas of health management and leadership concepts, health finance, health economics, health system, health policy, health communication and professional development.

Students will also be expected to submit a research proposal in the area of health systems or health services management, obtain ethics approval for it, conduct the research and write up a full thesis, as well as defend the research work in an oral viva exam.

FNU’s Acting Dean for CMNHS, Dr Donald Wilson said the international accreditation of this newly developed and approved MHSM programme by FNU indicated the robustness of the programme structure and the relevance of its content.

Dr Donald Wilson

“Prospective students can be assured that the content of the programme aligns with the competencies that have been recognised by the industry as very relevant for health leadership and management,” Dr Wilson said.

“This achievement by the SPHPC is an assurance to both the private and public health sectors of the quality of learning and teaching that the school delivers.”

ACHSM Chief Executive Officer, Catherine Chaffey, highlighted that the ACHSM accreditation covered the following key objectives; to recognise excellence in the education of health services managers and leaders, establish standards for the delivery of formal universities programmes in health and aged care services, to encourage a process of continuous quality improvement within these academic programmes and recognize academic programmes that met these standards through a transparent and objective process.

Chaffey also added that the other benefits to FNU included the provision of a certificate of accreditation for four years, the use of the ACHSM

Catherine Chaffey.

logo by FNU CMNHS in all its documents, including graduation certificates and transcripts and sharing of information using both the ACHSM and FNU CMNHS websites to provide advice to prospective students and key partners. In terms of employment, the accreditation is a great bonus in that the qualification is recognised by the health sector in Australia.

Chaffey said the CMNHS team would be provided with two free registrations to the ACHSM Asia-Pacific Annual Congress in 2021 in Canberra, free access to the ACHSM Journal – Asia Pacific Journal of Health Services Management, and an invitation to work more closely with the ACHSM Queensland Branch for professional development programs organized by them during the year.

The ACHSM CEO and her team said they looked forward to working with the CMNHS team in maintaining the quality of the MHSM programme and providing academic assistance when needed.